Pennridge Taxpayers May See Tax Hike for the First Time in Seven Years

John Worthington | The Reporter•

After seven consecutive years of no tax increases, Pennridge School District taxpayers may see a tax hike in the coming year.

The warning was issued by Pennridge Business Administrator Sean Daubert at a school board finance committee meeting Monday evening. Daubert pointed to a $6 million budget shortfall created by the recently-approved contract with the Pennridge Education Association, the Pennridge teacher’s union.

The five-year contract was approved in September after intense negotiations between the school board and the teacher’s union. Pennridge teachers, the lowest paid teachers in Bucks County, had sought 5% annual raises, while the board proposed 2% raises. The approved contract increases teacher and professional salaries by an average of 3.48% per year, with step movement included in each year. It additionally raises starting salaries to $51,000 in the first year, reaching $56,500 in the fifth year.

The salary and benefits increases amounted to $6 million in unbudgeted funds. While creating a hole in the budget, Daubert characterized the move as vital for staff retention and recruitment.

"We have a hole. But it had to happen. We couldn’t put teachers in the classroom because we weren’t competitive in salaries. We couldn’t get bus drivers, teacher aides, custodians; we had to raise rates in order to get people to come to work,” Daubert said. "It was the right thing to do. But it comes to roost now.”

Further sounding the alarm, Daubert said that the maximum allowable real estate tax increase of 5.3% would only generate $4.6 million, short of the $6 million deficit. He cautioned board members against instructional spending cuts and drawing from the general fund, noting that salaries and benefits are a recurring expense. He pointed to other potential revenue sources, including natural growth in real estate taxes, earned income taxes and interest earnings.

Daubert concluded by urging board members to address the shortfall this year rather than delaying action until the next few years.

"If we take care of it this year, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 are not gonna be that big of a problem,” he said. "But if we kick the can down the road, we’re just gonna make it bigger.”

On a more positive note, Daubert announced that the 2022-2023 year-end budget included roughly $156 million in revenue and $149 million in expenditures, yielding a nearly $7 million surplus. He revealed that the surplus funds will be transferred to the capital fund to finance summer capital projects. He noted that the district’s capital expenditures more than doubled from the 2021-2022 to 2022-2023 school year due to rising material costs, resulting in a $6 million reduction in the capital fund despite the added $7 million surplus.

The next Pennridge school board meeting is on February 21 at 7 p.m. For more information, visit pennridge.org.

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